JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed Keaton Energy’s Vanggatfontein colliery has performed strongly in the first quarter of the 2014 financial year, delivering 526 034 t of washed 2-seam and 4-seam thermal coal to Eskom.

This was a 48% increase on the previous quarter’s output of 356 518 t and some 70% higher than the corresponding period in the previous financial year.

Similarly, 5-seam metallurgical coal sales from the operation into the domestic market for the three months ended June 30, increased by 26% to 25 246 t, up from 20 111 t in the previous quarter. This was also a 43% improvement on production for the comparable quarter in the 2013 financial year.

In addition, some 78 071 t of third-party coal was washed in comparison to the 68 110 t of coal washed in the previous quarter.

“As expected, the strong end to the 2013 financial year continued with record production and cash generation during the first quarter of this year. Vanggatfontein looks set to deliver outstanding results this year,” Keaton CEO Mandi Glad said in a statement on Thursday.

Meanwhile, production at Keaton’s Vaalkrantz colliery, in KwaZulu-Natal, was affected by “geological difficulties” during the three months, but still dispatched 76 454 t of anthracite to domestic and export customers.

This was a 2% drop in output compared with the previous quarter’s 78 348 t and a 9% decrease on production in the first quarter of the 2013 financial year.

Glad, last month, expressed concern over possible labour unrest at the colliery, citing wage negotiations with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union.

The NUM has demanded wage increases of up to 60% for its members from gold and coal mining companies that are negotiating through the Chamber of Mines.

“Vaalkrantz’s performance, in the face of continuing challenging geological conditions, is pleasing both from production and safety perspectives. With the long-life mine now approaching steady state, our priority remains to grow our business by advancing our internal pipeline of development projects, aggressively pursuing acquisition opportunities and further optimising the performance of our existing operations,” said Glad.